During line rushes at Friday’s morning skate, James Neal leaned on the side-boards and chit-chatted with another of the spares. He wasn’t on any of the forward trios.

During special-teams work, he leaned on the boards by his lonesome. He wasn’t in his usual spot on the second power-play unit.

At precisely the time the Calgary Flames were supposed to lean on his playoff know-how, on his knack for scoring big goals at big moments, Neal was a healthy scratch.

Just when you thought his season couldn’t go any worse … it did.

With the Flames in must-win mode, pushed to the brink of elimination by these speedy kids from Colorado, they figured they were better off without Neal in their lineup.

“It’s hard. Every decision you make is impactful, in one way or the other,” said Flames head coach Bill Peters after Friday’s morning skate. “They’re tough decisions. Spent a lot of time on it over the past two days, and we think it’s the right move to make at this time.

“We have to play our best game here (Friday night), so we’re putting the best foot forward, in our opinion.”

Their best lineup, they finally admitted on Good Friday, doesn’t include Neal. At least, not against a team that wheels the way the Colorado Avalanche do.

For their biggest — and potentially last — showdown of the spring, their prized free-agent signing would be munching press-box popcorn.

Neal’s scratching doesn’t come as a shock to anybody who has been watching this series … or this season.

He arrived in Calgary with a reputation as a proven marksman — that backed by a string of 10 consecutive National Hockey League campaigns with 20-plus goals — but scored just seven this winter, by far the lowest output of his career.

On a Flames squad that wanted to play faster than ever before, the 31-year-old right-winger simply couldn’t keep up.

His US$5.75-million cap-hit already looks horrible, and that’s with four more years to go on that contract.

All along, though, glass-half-full sorts insisted Neal could redeem himself with an impactful post-season showing.

He had, remember, racked up 100 games of playoff experience — that’s 58 more than any of his teammates — and been to the Stanley Cup final in back-to-back years, first on behalf of the Nashville Predators and then with the Vegas Golden Knights.

He would, some hoped, be a spring stud.

On Friday, he was a spectator.

A spare.

A healthy scratch.

Neal, who mustered zero goals, zero points, seven shots and a minus-3 rating through four clashes with the Avalanche, was replaced in the Game 5 lineup by the much-more-fleet-of-foot Austin Czarnik.

Rookie winger Andrew Mangiapane stayed in.

With good reason. He brings more speed, plus he scored in the series-opener.

Fellow fourth-liner Garnet Hathaway stayed in.

With good reason. He brings more thump, plus he is a regular on the penalty-kill.

Neal’s usual centre, Mark Jankowski, stayed in.

Despite his own struggles against the Avalanche, he was likely spared because of his role in short-handed situations.

What’s more, Friday’s shakeup included a promotion for Sam Bennett, with the Flames hoping that he could help spark Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan out of their offensive doldrums on the first line. Neal, of course, had designs on spending this season as the net-filling third-wheel to that dynamic duo.

“Anytime you bring a guy in, somebody has to come out, right?” Peters reasoned after morning skate. “There are some guys that we talked about, but there are some guys that do some different things on specialty-teams that we didn’t have anybody to replace.

“So … one guy comes in, one guy comes out.”

So … Neal, a guy signed to be a difference-maker in these exact moments, was scratched.

Oof.

Rewind, for a moment, to July 2, when ‘The Real Deal’ scribbled his signature on that five-year, US$28.75-million pact that has so far been a dreadful fit for both sides …

“This is the type of player we have been looking for for a while,” Flames general manager Brad Treliving raved that day. “We’ve liked him for a long time. He’s been successful for a long time at one of the hardest jobs in hockey, and that’s shooting it in the net.

“He’s a perennial 20-plus goal scorer every year. He’s an ultra-competitive guy. He’s had playoff success. He’s a big body. He has played the last game in the league for the last two years in a row.”

Neal wasn’t available to the media after Friday’s morning skate, but what was he going to say? Although he has repeated countless times that he just wants to win, regardless of his role, does that extend to watching his buddies go to battle?

This Week's Flyers

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